Monday, April 6, 2015

Aunjanue
Ellis starred as Aminata Diallo in The Book of Negroes,
the hit, TV-miniseries based on Lawrence Hill’s award-winning best seller of
the same name. Here, she and the picture’s director, Clement Virgo, share their
thoughts about the adaptation of the historical novel chronicling the life of
an 11 year-old girl kidnapped in Africa and enslaved for decades in the U.S. until she manages to escape to Canada.

Kam
Williams: Hi Aunjanue
and Clement, thanks for the interview.

Aunjanue Ellis: Thank you, Kam.

Clement Virgo:
Absolutely!

KW:
What interested you in The Book of Negroes, Aunjanue?

AE:
To be honest, the first thing that interested me was seeing
that the CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation] and BET [Black Entertainment
Television] were partnering on the project. In my mind, I couldn’t think of two
more divergent networks. Then, I found out it was based on this wonderful
historical novel about a woman’s story of survival. I love doing that kind of
work.

KW:
Did you read the book before accepting the role?

AE:
Yes, I did.

KW:
Clement, what inspired you to turn it into a mini-series?

CV:
The book was quite a phenomenon in Canada, where
it won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and sold a million copies. I fell in
love with Aminata Diallo and enjoyed reading about the period of history that
she takes us through. I thought I knew about the American Revolutionary War and
about my own and Canadian history. But I didn’t know about people migrating
from New York to Nova Scotia, or appreciate that if you were
African-American, you really had to choose sides during the Revolutionary War.
And I saw Aminata as being a lot like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, where she
was caught up in this twister of slavery, and all she wanted to do was get back
home. Her determination to survive was so powerful, I felt like I had to tell
the story.

KW:
Given the facts brought out about the Revolutionary War by
The Book of Negroes, do you think that the American colonies were on the wrong
side of history? The film suggests that the British were lesser of two evils.
Have blacks been mis-educated into siding with the Patriots over the British
Loyalists in the same way Native Americans talk about being manipulated by
movies as children into rooting for the Cowboys over the Indians?

AE:
The British kept their slaves while wanting to get rid of America’s, so
you can take from that what you will. It’s a lot more complicated than we’re
led to believe.

KW:
Do you think George Washington’s ex-slave, Henry Washington,
should be more of a hero to African-Americans than his master, the first
president of the United
States? After all, he escaped from slavery
and then gained his freedom by fighting with the British during the
Revolutionary War.

AE:
America
is steeped in mythology. The problem is that it’s been living a myth since its
inception, starting with The Declaration of Independence. How can you say that
all people are created equal, but mean only if they’re white and male? So, we,
as its citizens, have continually had to die in the streets to force the
country to live up to that promise and be more than a myth, and be a reality
for all. That’s why it’s so genius that Clement has Aminata say to George
Washington, “If this is what you’re claiming to be, then why do you have slaves?”
This picture does a great job of shattering the myths perpetuated in many
schoolbooks.

KW:
This film actually moved me to tears on several occasions,
like the very touching scene where Aminata tracks down her baby shortly after
it was sold, but was immediately ordered off the plantation by its heartless,
new slave owner.

CV:
I’m glad to hear that. It was important to all of us to
capture the totality of these characters’ humanity and not just reduce them to
their circumstances. Aminata fascinates me, because she reminds me of all that
black people have had to overcome. I also appreciated the fact that she was a
midwife, since one of the last things she had been told by her mother before
being kidnapped and sold into slavery was, “As long as babies are being born,
life will go on.” So, her subsequently bringing life into the world is very,
very significant.

KW:
Editor Lisa Loving says: I
meet so many people who don't really know, or worse, don’t think about, the
racist roots of our country which have grown into this imperfect present day.
Do you see the success of The Book of Negroes miniseries as part of a greater
awareness in the United
States of our racist history and how we
should be living now?

CV:
I consider it part of my job as a filmmaker to put art out
into the world that is positive and affirms life. Yes, it says the roots may be
racist and brutal, but it cannot define us and it cannot stop us.

KW:
Lisa also asks: Who
do you feel is The Book of Negroes’ intended audience?

AE:
Everybody.

KW:
Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: How
much of YOU is in Aminata Diallo, and how much did you allow yourself to get
lost in the character?

AE:
Aminata couldn’t be more different from me than any
character I’ve ever played in terms of her temperament, her world view and the
way she carried herself with so much wisdom and grace, even as a child. My
sense of self is a lot more haphazard. I lost myself with her, when I put my
costume on. You can’t go through what she went through as an actor without
giving yourself over to it completely. And I did. So, it got very hard and
depressing. Who she is, is not me, which is why playing her was so rewarding
ultimately. And I’m very grateful when anyone compliments me on my performance,
since that means that they didn’t catch on that I was acting.

KW:
Lastly, what’s in your wallet?

CV:
[Laughs] What’s in my wallet? I have a check for $257 that
I’ve been walking around with for three weeks that I need to cash.

AE:
[Laughs] I have a wallet that I got when we were shooting in
South Africa.
What’s in it? Some change from Canada
and other places, and my expired driver’s license. [Laughs some more]

KW:
Thanks again for the time, Aunjanue
and Clement, and best of luck with all your endeavors.

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The Sly Fox Film Reviews publishes the content of film critic Kam Williams. Voted Most Outstanding Journalist of the Decade by the Disilgold Soul Literary Review in 2008, Kam Williams is a syndicated film and book critic who writes for 100+ publications around the U.S., Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. He is a member of the New York Film Critics Online, the NAACP Image Awards Nominating Committee and Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to a BA in Black Studies from Cornell, he has an MA in English from Brown, an MBA from The Wharton School, and a JD from Boston University. Kam lives in Princeton, NJ with his wife and son.